Getting Started: Writing Poetry

Perhaps the most difficult part of writing is getting the first sentence, sometimes the first words, committed to paper. You must keep in mind that anything that you write can be rewritten and edited. The important thing is to begin writing, so be creative and do not be afraid to write something terrible. Remember: you can change what you have written once the writing begins to flow.

When you are writing poetry, you want to keep the imagination open. Do not limit yourself and your writing. Before you begin writing, you should set the mood for writing. Do you have a place where you can go with limited interruptions? Are you more comfortable indoors or outdoors? Some writers have told me that they light fragrant candles and play music while they write. Do not be afraid to experiment. When I write, I sit in the quiet of my den with my laptop and a few cats. I always meditate on a project for a while before I do any actual writing. Sometimes I jot a few words or phrases down over several days and work with them while writing the poem – often changing the vocabulary after much thought about the selection of words chosen.

One of the best pieces of advice I’ve been giving about poetry is to keep a log of ideas for poems. This works for fiction and nonfiction ideas as well. There are times when I have a flood of ideas, but then there are those times that I am uninspired and inarticulate. I use to keep an index card holder of my ideas, but now I keep them in a file on my laptop and iPhone. There are several apps that can help keep your ideas organized. Two that I use often are Writer Lists and A Novel Idea. Writers List is a paid app and contains lists that can inspire ideas for writing, including ideas on characters, plot, and setting. It also includes information about animals, foods, colors, etc. A Novel Idea is a free app that organizes my writing ideas as well as details about current books I am working on and ideas for books I want to write. Some of the notes are brief while others are more detailed inspirations. When I need an idea, I often refer to this file.

Over the years, I have received great advice from many friends and colleagues about writing. Listed below are some of the most useful tips I’ve been given:

Tips on Writing Poetry

1. Write a paragraph about an idea for a poem. A paragraph usually contains four or more sentences of a collective idea. This step will help you to organize your thoughts. Take note of the key elements in your paragraph. What are some of the key words used? What is the tone? Then take some time and think about the poem and try to hold back from writing it. Take your idea and discuss it with others. There is great value in having a network of honest friends you can ask advice and receive encouragement. I am often surprised by the input and advice people share with me.

2. Poetry is not self-indulgent. Poetry is for the reader, not the writer. Poetry is about people, not abstracts. Use words that describe people and their experiences but avoid sentimentality. This helps the reader to empathize with the poem.

3. Use images. Remember Plutarch from my last blog entry? Poets paint with words. Poetry should stimulate the senses: sight, sound, smell, touch, taste, and motion.

4. Use metaphor and similes. According to the Oxford American Dictionary, a metaphor is “a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable.”

Examples of metaphors: “a sea of troubles,” “life is a journey.”

A simile is “a figure of speech involving the comparison of one thing with another thing of a different kind, used to make a description more emphatic or vivid.”

Examples of similes: “cute as a kitten,”’ “strong as an ox.”

5. Avoid clichés. According to the American Oxford Dictionary, a cliché is “a phrase or opinion that is overused and betrays a lack of original thought.”

Examples of clichés are “live and learn,” “busy as a bee,” “avoid like the plague,” “what goes around comes around.”

You should always try to avoid clichés unless you are being ironic. I think that the best poetry is informed by ironic vision. When using irony, words can take on different meanings. The best poets use these different meanings to give further detail to the poem, so be aware of some of the contradictory possibilities.

6. Poetry is efficient. Words are not wasted. Adjectives are fun but watch over-using them. If a noun stands alone, then let it.

7. Poetry moves from specific to general. Poetry should begin with the particular and broaden.

8. There is a difference between truth and fact. Poetry is about truth, and truth is universal.

9. A poem lives partly in its silence. A poem is best when it leaves us with questions it has not asked. It makes the reader look for meaning.

10. A poem does not stop - it closes, it resolves. Other lines raise expectations of another, but the last line does not.

Here is a short video to help inspire creativity:

Video taken by Regina Horne Beard at Lake Greeson Wildlife Management Area in Arkansas (November 2013).

What is Poetry?

What is poetry? Poetry is an art form that predates the written word. It was used as a means of recording oral history and may have had its origins in song. The oldest surviving poems, like Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey, were meant to be recited along with music. These poems were long narratives, known as epic poetry, and usually centered on heroic deeds. For example, the Iliad was an epic account of the Trojan War. According to Greek mythology, the Greeks laid siege to Troy for ten years after the Trojan prince, Paris, kidnapped the Spartan queen, Helen. In the Iliad, the story centered on the heroic deeds of both the Greeks and the Trojans during the war. In the Odyssey, the story follows the hero Odysseus on his way home to Ithaca after the Trojan War.

Since the ancient period, defining exactly what poetry is and what determines good poetry has been debated. Plutarch described poetry as “painting that speaks.” Poetry uses language and prose that conveys a meaning and a purpose but can also be interpreted differently by different readers. Vocabulary is used to “paint” a story or express a particular emotion. For the ancients, the study of poetry revealed that it is a distinctive form of art, and they struggled for a definition that completely encompassed the aesthetics of poetry. Throughout the following centuries to the modern era, the definition of poetry continued to be elusive and interpreted as an art form that uses words as a creative means of expression. In general, poets are very careful about choosing words for a poem. Poets consider the clarity of the word, the emotional value, the spacing, and the spatial relationship of the word to the page. There is a beauty and significance when using the right word. In short, vocabulary can make or break a poem.

Determining what makes a good poem versus a bad poem is even more elusive than defining poetry. Poetry can be historical, fantasy, comical, tragic. Poets have a gift of communicating a thought with vocabulary and verse. By comparing great works of poetry over the centuries, we can get an impression of what makes a poem great. It is no coincidence that the best poetry stirs the emotions and can influence an entire culture, but the truest test of what makes a poem great is if it can stand the test of time. To be a good poet, you must first understand the mechanics behind poetry. Vocabulary plays a significant role, but poetry also contains many elements (rhythm, rhyme, form, and diction) as well as specific components (line, stanza, and meter), each of which will be discussed in future blog posts.